This particular image was a modification of a well-known type of fractal -- a Julian Disc -- and it's likely some minor effects and render settings, and maybe some skewed transformations, that makes it seem more abstract than your typical example of this type of fractal.

In general, I really can't explain how I create artwork because I just let myself be shaped by what my mind wants to do as I'm creating the artwork -- if my mind likes something, I try to preserve that element and move on to exploring other things. If my mind doesn't like something, it will make changes to the structure until I find something interesting.